Avant Cards developed a marketing booklet, printed at Sydney-based SOS, which it has sent to 3,500 clients to boost the use of QR Codes, said creative director Kris Taifalos.

Taifalos said he expected that all Avant Card postcards would one day include the two-dimensional barcodes, which can be scanned with mobile phone cameras and link to webpages.

Last year, SOS produced 27 million postcards and 1.5 million mini-mags for Avant Cards on its six-colour and 10-colour Heidelberg SM 102 presses.

SOS director Michael Schultz described QR Codes as "one way of adding value to the printed product".

He said the codes provided a good link between print and the internet and made print more relevant.

However, Schultz warned people would be put off QR Codes if advertisers persisted in directing them to websites that hadn't been designed for mobile browsing.

Schultz thought QR Codes could have a long-term future provided they made "a critical breakthrough" in the next few years.

Printing guru Frank Romano called QR Codes "an important technology" while speaking in Sydney on 14 February – but predicted their demise.

He expected the codes would increasingly be replaced by near-field communications technology, which uses electronic chips to communicate with smartphones.

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